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The Real Patriotic American. 
REMAKKS 

OF 

HON. ISAAC SIEUEL, 

of new york, 
In the House of Repkesentati^^es, 

July 1, 1916. 

]Mr. SIEGEL. Mr. Speaker, the President has suddenly 
reached the conclusion that it was urgent that the National 
Guard be sent to the Mexican border, and at the same time 
that the men be required to take the Federal oath, so that if 
the necessity arose they could be sent into Mexico. It must not 
be forgotten that a large number of these men are married 
aiTd dependent upon their weekly earniai,s fu)* the support of 
their families. When they enlisted in the National Guard they 
were moved by the highest patriotic sentiments and voluntarily 
gave up many pleasiu'es in attending drills, taiget practice, and 
camping, which many of these critics have never thought of 
doing. These men have the spirit of '76, although ansv.oring 
the Nation's call of 1916. They are and lixive at all times been 
ready to make sacrifices of the highest order, but has it coine 
to the point that when their families need bread that th.e only 
place they can get it is from the bread line, where \agrants 
and those who do not care to work usually go? I do not ndievc 
that we have reached that state as yet. These men have an- 
swered the call of the greatest and richest Kepublir: of the 
world, and it is the duty of the Nation to tal^e care of their 
families. These men are leaving their firesides, factories, and 
farms to do their duty to the entire United States, :iud not 
merely for the sake of defending one hamlet or city. One might 
just as well say that Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico sliuuld 
pay all the expenditures which have or may hereafter be in- 
curred in protecting the lives, homes, and property of our citi- 
zens in those States from Mexican marauders as to argue that 
each particular community should take care of dependent fami- 
lies of National Guardsmen. 

Nor would one expect that New York City, which has con- 
tributed one-third of the individual income tax and one-fifth of 
the corporation tax, should in addition thereto provide suste- 
nance for the dependent families of National Guardsmen \vh(» 
hail from New York City. 

Uncle . Sam is no beggar and needs no charity. A new 
phrase — " commercialized patriotism " — has been coined by 
some speakers lately. The meaning of it is that men are gt)ing 
to the front because they are mainly concerned with the 
monthly pay they are to receive as soldiers and not because 
they ai"e moved by patriotic motives. The ansvy-er to such 
utterances is short. There is not one man who has left for the 
Mexican border M'ho Avas not actually earning more than the Gov- 
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ernmeut pays. That in a large majority of cases the men were S|^ 
earning for a week's work what the Government is paying them jj 

for a month's service are facts well known to every individual j' 

who has taken any interest whatsoever in the men who compose 
the National Guard. 
Col. Theodore Roosevelt, among other things, said yesterday : 

It really is an outrage that such a system should be permitted. 
Under this system, illustrated by the movement of the National Guard 
to the Mexican border, a man whose wife and children are dependent 
on him is obliged to go d,own and leave his family behind. The system 
is radically wrong. "^ 

Elihu Root, about a year ago, said that many men in public 
life say things in haste and shortly thereafter repent. I believe 
that such will be the fate of those who have opposed this 
measure. 

This bill appropnates $2,000,000 to be expended under the 
direction of the Secretary of War for the support of, at a cost 
of not more than $50 per month, so much of said amount as the 
Secretary of War may deem necessary, the family of each en- 
listed man of the National Guard called or drafted into the 
service of the United States until his discharge from such serv- 
ice, which family during the term of service of such enlisted 
man has no other income, except the pay of such enlisted man, 
adequate for the support of such family. 

It is the best piece of humanitarian legislation that this 
House has passed this session. It has won the approbation of 
men, regardless of party. Toward the eradication of sectional- 
ism, it must indeed he deemed to have contributed its share. 
It has helped to keep cemented the ties that bind every man 
at the front to his family. It has shown the world that this 
Republic at^least is not ungrateful to its defenders. 

Mr. Speaker, there has appeared this month a poem v,?ritten 
by Elias Lieberman that has attracted considerable attention, 
and it affords me great pleasure to quote it in full : 

I AM AN AMERICAN. 

I am an American. 

My father belongs to the Sons of the Revolution ; 

My mother, to the Colonial Dames. 

One of my ancestors pitched tea overboard in Boston Harbor} 

Another stood his ground with Warren ; 

Another hungered with Washington at Valley Forge. * 

My forefathers were America in the making: 

They spoke in her council halls ; 

They died on her battle fields ; 

They commanded her ships ; 

They cleared her forests. 

Dawns reddened and paled 

Stanch hearts of mine beat fast at each new star 

In the Nation's flag. 

Keen eyes of mine foresaw her greater glory : 

The sweep of her seas. 

The plenty of her plains. 

The man hives in her billion-wired cities. 

Every drop of blood in me holds a heritage of patriotism. 

I am proud of my past ; 

I am an American. 

I am an American. 

My father was an atom of dust, 

My mother a straw in the wind, 

To His Serene Majesty. 

One of my ancestors died in the mines of Siberia; 

Another was crippled for life by 20 blows of the knout; 

Another was killed defending his home during the massacres. 

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The Listory of my ancestorfs is a trail of blood 

To the palace gato of the Great White Czar. 

But then the dream came — 

The dream of America. 

In the li^ht of the liberty torch 

The atom of dust became a mau 

And the straw in the wind became a woman 

For the first time. 

il mt^'l' S^*'^ "^y father, pointing to the flag that fluttered near, 

That flag of stars and stripes is yours ; 
It is the emblem of the promised land. 
It means, my son, the hope of humanity. 
Live for it — die for it ! " 

Under the open sky of my new country I swore to do so: 
And every drop of blood in me will keep that vow. 
I am proud of my future. , 

I am an American. 

Mr. Speaker, the naturalized American has by his actions in 
the past few weeks completely refuted the specious arguments 
advanced by some hysterical literary magazine critics- that in 
times of emergency he would not do his duty to his adopted 
country. I have spoken to over 17,000 school children in New 
York City during the past three weeks, and there is not one who 
loves our institutions who would not have had his pulse quick- 
ened by the siglit of these children in each instance pledging 
allegiance to our flag and Republic. They cherish and revere 
the Stars and Stripes with a deep-seated love and enthusiasm 
that words can not describe. To hear them sing "America, I 
love you," is to convey a message to you that thrills you 'in 
such a manner as to make you realize that here can be found 
real sentiment and not mere pretense. In every regiment that 
has left New York you will find some of their brothers. These 
boys have answered the call in 191G, the same as others re- 
sponded in 1861 and in 1898. 

I have no fear for the future of our country. In its hour of 
need brave men and boys, regardless of the place of their na- 
tivity, will willingly make any and all sacrifices our land may 
ever require. I am looking forward to tlie day when worth of 
the individual shall in every part of the United States be the 
only qualification for his advancement and devotion, to duty 
and love of country the sole requisites for enjoying the full 
benefits of American citizenship. 

In the New York Times to-day appears the following poem by 
Lurana Sheldon, and I quote it in full : 

THE NATURALIZED ALIEN. 

The land I claim claims me ! 

It holds me sacredly its own, and I 

For its best welfare will both fight and die 

If such a sacrifice shall be 

Part of the great necessity. 

The land I claim has made 

My chance for victory, for strong success. 
In other climes my triumph would be less, 

For here has freedom truly laid 

Each open path of honest trade. 

The land I claim has left 

My hands unbound, my will at peace. 

Rich are the blessings, precious the release, 
From chains whose links were cleft 
Ere hope my soul bereft. 
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Tli(! land I claim claims mc. 

Ana she shall find her foster soldier true 

To this her flag, the red, the white, the blue, 
Thouiarh kith and kin shall cross the sea 
To call me back to loyalty. , s 

*! 

So much lias been said about the National Guardsman that I a 

was not surprised to receive the following, entitled " The Regu- 
lar Army Man," written by Sam H. Welch, United States Troop 
Camp, Laredo, Tex., and as it has both a grain of humor and 
much of truth in it I quote it at length : 

He ain't no gbld-laco Belvidcre 

To sparkle in the sun ; 
He don't parade with gay cockade 

And posies in his gun. 
He ain't no pretty soldier boy, 

So lovely, spick, and span- 
He wears a crust of tan and dust, 

The Reg'lar Army man — 

The marchin", parchin', 

Pipe-clay starchin'. 

Keg'lar Army man. 

He ain't at home in Sunday school, 

Nor yet a social tea ; ^*' 

And on the day he gets bis pay 

He's apt to spend it free. 
Ho ain't no temp'rance advocate — 

He likes to fill the can ; 
He's kinder rough and maybe tough. 

The Reg'lar Army man — 

The rarin', tearin'. 

Sometimes swearln", 

Reg'lar Army man. 

No State will call him noble sou, 
He ain't no ladies' pet ; 

But let a row start anyhow 
They send for him, you bet. 

He don't cut any ice at all ij 

In fashion's social plan. ». 

He gets the job to face a mob, . 

The Reg'lar Army man — !i!jj 

The millin'. drillin', "j 

Made for killin', ,!,• 

Reg'lar Army man. j(«! 

There ain't no tears shod over him !» •■ 

When he goes off to war ; 
He gets no speech or praycrfu) prcacii 

From mayor or governor. 
He packs his little knapsack up 

And trots off in the van 
To start the fight and start it right — 

The Reg'lar Armv man — l,u 

The rattlin', battlin', ,<-^ 

Colt or Gatlin, 

Reg'lar Army man. 

He makes no fuss about the job, 

He don't talk big or brave ; < 

He knows he's in to fight and win i!" 

Or help fill up the grave. j 

He ain't no mamma's darling, 

But he does the best he can ; 
And he's the chap that wins the scrap — 

The Reg'lar Army man — i 

The dandy, tandy, I 

Cool and sandy, i**' 

Reg'lar Ai'my man. 
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WASHINGTON' : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1916 



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